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January 27,1907 - The Washington Post - ELBERFELD AND TURNER.

ELBERFELD AND TURNER.Two Great Shortstops Compared by Players of Different Teams.There was quite an argument at New York baseball headquarters, according to Grantland Rice. A brace of New York bugs blew in for a gabfest, and after a few rounds of light sparring on the rival merits of the Naps and the Yankees, the talk drifted to a comparison of Elberfeld and Turner."You've got to hand it to Turner as the greatest shortstop in the game to-day," commented one of Napland's backers. "Elberfeld isn't in his class - nor any other shortstop in either league. You can't duck that argument.""I'll have to hand it to Turner as the king pin of the lot," admitted the New Yorker. "I saw him make some plays last summer on Frank Farrell's hill that I don't believe any other player on earth could make. He was simply a wonder_ And yet I'd rather have Elberfeld on my team.""Where's your dope for that remark?" cut in the Naplander."I'll tell you," came back the Easterner. "And I'll pass it to you straight. Turner is a greater infielder than Elberfeld, and almost as good a hitter. But there it stops. I never saw Turner yet in there fighting for a game - and for that matter few other members of the Cleveland club. Elberfeld is something more than a machine. He is in there hustling, fighting, using his head and pulling his team along. He's a fox on the bases, and always ready to pull off something when the time arrives. He doesn't know what it means to quit and he'll fight harder in the face of defeat than when his club is ahead.- Elberfeld's chief weakness is scrapping with the umps too often. If he would only cut that out he wouldn't have a rival. Winning a ball game takes up something more than fielding and batting.""And hand you something else along this line." continued Griff's supporter. "The difference between Elberfeld and Turner is just the difference between the New York and Cleveland clubs. If that Cleveland bunch would only get in there and hustle like Griff's team does and scrap for every point of the game, there'd be nothing, else to it. Outside of Lajoie and one or two, others, it doesn't seem to worry them much whether they win or lose. And what I'm handing you is straight."